Better Together
by LauraS26
Summary: Shy, chubby, and ginger, Kat Lèigh is resigned to her solitary existence. She has her library, her cats, her hobbies, and despite the lack of people, she does love her life. Godric is feeling the weight of his years. Wondering if he's been on earth too long. If he should have lived beyond his human years at all. Can these two dented but beautiful souls be better together?


Inspired by the work of Melusine10 whose writing I adore and am utterly in awe of. its nowhere near the quality of their writing but I had to get something down after reading the latest chapter of Into the Mystic. Go check out their stuff, seriously, you wont regret it!

-000-

She was going to do it, Kat decided, anxious but resolved. The young looking vampire had been coming to the library where the short, plump redhead worked, every Wednesday for three months now, and he always looked so lost. Drifting down the aisles restlessly on the one night a week where they opened through the night since the great reveal in the name of inclusivity. Kat thought the late night opening scheme was wonderful. She believed wholeheartedly that everyone deserved access to books. Not being human didn't change that. That and volunteering to work the late shift let her avoid the general public and still get paid one day a week.

The vampires were mostly quite dismissive of the humans in the library when they came in, but they didn't tend towards the immature cruel humour that the living were so adept at. Her carrot orange mane and larger than ideal frame were easy fodder for 'just having a laugh' at, and her shy nature didn't allow her to stand up for herself. A vampire had yet to even mention either feature within her hearing, so she was inclined to prefer working with them so far. As an added bonus, the very threat of the vampires kept most humans away through the night too, though the library access wasn't restricted to just vampires after dark.

But yes, the melancholy vampire. He came here every Wednesday and usually stayed several hours. Between wandering the stacks, he read books from every section. From cooking to romance, self help to classics, fantasy to true crime. She couldn't begin to guess what, but he was clearly searching for something. She had noticed that any other vampire who came in while he was present would give the boy a wide berth, and he never asked her, or whoever was sharing her shift for any assistance.

Kat knew a thing or two about loneliness. The fat, shy, ginger librarian. Of course she did. She was resigned to it for herself, but she couldn't stand to see it in others. So after weeks of surreptitiously watching him from wherever she was busying herself like a creep, she was finally screwing up the courage to say hello. Offer a friendly ear if he wanted to talk maybe. She wasn't sure exactly, but if she didn't go now she knew she would bottle it. The wild beating of her heart in her chest was probably ringing a dinner bell to the three vampires currently making use of the library she thought hysterically.

Fists clenched and hiding sweaty palms, she walked over to the table where he was sat poring over a book, one on cheese making if she wasn't mistaken. Courage faltering, the last few steps became an awkward sidle, leaving her looming over his seated form. A novel sensation for a woman who barely scraped five foot one on a good day. When he looked up, meeting her wide green eyes though, she suddenly didn't feel like the one who was looming at all.

Those piercing grey eyes were brimming with incredible presence. As a human she had no way of knowing, but somehow she was sure that this man was the oldest thing she had ever encountered. It wasn't a fierce, or arrogant aura. No, the presence was remote, and somehow bleak. Her heart squeezed in echoed pain. It struck her mute for a long moment before he arched a sharp black brow and she suddenly realised how creepy she was being. Face flaming hot with mortification, she could feel sweat beading at her temples. He must think she was simple. But she was here now. How much worse could she make it?

"I'm so sorry, I don't mean to be weird or anything, it's just, I work here on the Wednesday night shift, and I see you come in every week. You never speak to anyone and you seem a little...lost?" She shrugged helplessly, not sure where she was going with this anymore. "So, ah, I'm Kat and I'll be around if you ever need anything, or maybe just want to talk okay bye!" The sentence got faster and higher until the words at the end were a squeaked jumble of sounds he probably couldn't even understand.

Piece said, Kat dipped her head in an awkward half nod half bow, backed away, and whirled, long skirt twirling around her ankles with the motion, to scurry as fast as her short legs could carry her into the staff room where she could hide her crimson face. Maybe she would just drown herself in the sink…

-000-

Godric watched the pretty little librarian scuttle away like a mouse from a cat, and felt a light curiosity tickle his mind. A minuscule lifting of the apathy and dissatisfaction that blanketed him constantly now. It wasn't a strong feeling but he hadn't felt so engaged in decades.

People didn't talk to him. Not unless it was business, or his progeny. The weight of years hanging about him put off even humans, who didn't understand what they were feeling. His nest mates tried, but his age was intimidating even to those who were used to him. Familiarity could ease the wariness a little, but their instincts still wouldn't allow them to become too relaxed in the presence of someone so much more dangerous than themselves. Instincts ruled his kind, for good reason. That wary deference would be needed to keep them from the final death in the nests of most other ancients. Godric was just different.

The woman, Kat, had clearly been incredibly uncomfortable, but she had fought through the weight of his presence, and her own intense shyness, just to offer him someone to talk to. Because he seemed...lost to her?

When was the last time anyone had treated him like that? Like just another person? Even his beloved Eiríkr placed him on a pedestal. It was out of a place of love, adoration even, but it still isolated the ancient. He was lost. The insightful little human was right. He didn't quite think like a vampire anymore, and he had experienced far too much to ever think like a human anymore. How had she seen right to the heart of him when not even his precious progeny could?

As he thought, his sharp ears followed the sounds of the woman now hidden and approaching hyperventilation behind the closed door near the front desk.

He wasn't sure what had brought him to the library. No. That wasn't right. Curiosity, and appreciation for a program run by humans actively working to include the vampires under his jurisdiction without seeking anything in return had brought him here that first night.

That, and a healthy dose of justified paranoia. The Fellowship of the Sun were becoming a real danger to young vampires in his area. They were the biggest threat, but far from the only one. He had needed to be sure it wasn't some sort of trap or scheme before he gave it the green light for his underlings to use it. Especially for the youngest vampires under his protection, the ones who were most eager to take advantage of the opportunity. Some of them wished to continue their education, which was both admirable, and tricky in the current vampire-human political landscape.

It had been exactly as it had been presented though, and he had given the okay. And then he had come back the next week. And the week after. And every week since then. There was something about the large library, lit softly with only half of the lights on for the evening. A feeling of promise. That you could find the knowledge you sought here. And he was seeking, though he wasn't sure what. Something to give meaning to his endless existence. He kept being drawn back.

The little fire haired librarian had been noted, and dismissed despite catching her eyes on him often. Godric was aware he drew attention. It was his looks, too young for the weight of his presence. The dissonance was especially jarring for humans. His tattoos didn't help either when they were exposed. But she hadn't done anything to bother him, just watched, so he had ignored her. Apparently that had been a mistake.

His eyes tracked the sounds of her movements through the wall she had disappeared behind, unconsciously predatory. The other vampires in the building were radiating palpable auras of disbelief, though none of them dared to stare. It was no effort at all to track the librarian when she was pacing and muttering to herself, recovered from near hyperventilation fortunately. She apparently felt she had been an idiot, and that he must find her to be either a creep, or a weirdo. Or perhaps both. Her heart rate was still elevated from the mild panic she had worked herself into, but it was starting to settle.

Gently closing the book on cheese making, he left it at the table and stood. As he approached the door she was hidden behind, a polite murmured order to leave for the next hour cleared the other vampires from the building. Once the library was empty of everyone but the two of them, and the woman's elderly male colleague who was shelving books at the far side of the library and wouldn't be finished any time soon, he lifted a hand, and gently rapped on the door.

"Just a moment!" Her voice held only the most minute tremble, a human wouldn't have noticed it at all. He could hear her fingers frantically raking through her long, wild curls. She had probably been tugging at it as she paced he concluded, and was trying to fix whatever mess she'd made of it. The image was amusing.

A low hiss of pain and a near inaudible snapping sound-fingers catching and tearing a knot of hair-and she gave a tiny, very cute little growl, stomping over to the other side of the door. Once there, she stopped momentarily, took a deep breath, presumably to calm herself a little more, then swung the door open. There was a polite smile plastered across her face, but as soon as she realised who was on the other side of the door those verdant eyes widened and the smile wavered.

It displeased him he noted with surprise. He wanted her to remain smiling.

"Hello Kat. I am Godric. Please don't be sorry for speaking to me. Rest assured that I do not find you to be either a creep, nor a weirdo. In fact, I appreciate the courage it took to approach me. I could see you were afraid, but you did it anyway. You are so very kind."

He was pleased to see a little of the hunted look leave her eyes. She took another deep breath, smile looking a bit less forced.

"Oh. Hello Godric. I'm so sorry about before. I'd like to say I'm not normally that awkward, but it would be a lie." She was tugging on her left earlobe and playing with the small silver cat shaped stud in it as she spoke. It's twin twinkled from her other lobe. She had an elegant silver cuff made of fine curling wires studded with tiny chips of amethyst wrapped around the top curve of the left ear. The cartilage of the right ear held an amethyst stud and a small silver star. He could tell the fiddling was subconscious, and the threat inherent in the silver hadn't even crossed her mind so he wasn't offended.

"You are," he tilted his head, considering his words, "uncomfortable speaking to me. But you approached anyway. I appreciate it, but I do not understand. Why would you do such a thing?" He asked.

She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and nibbled on the plump flesh. Those expressive green eyes met his, ceasing their nervous darting around at last. "You looked lonely. I didn't want you to stay lonely if I could do anything to help. I hope I didn't offend you."

Her expression was open and sincere. Godric had no doubt whatsoever that she meant exactly what she was saying. Giving her words due consideration while she started to shift her weight from foot to foot under his heavy regard, and her gaze returned to flickering anywhere but his eyes, he decided that he wanted to know what she would do. She was right after all. He was lonely.

"I am not offended. You are correct. Within the supernatural community, I am rather isolated." Her eyes snapped back to his, shock written plainly in them. She clearly hadn't been expecting to be taken up on her implied offer.

Recovering admirably, she stepped towards him, indicating with her arms that he should step back. He did, and she came out of the room, closing the door behind her. He stood placidly, waiting to see what she would do. She gently took his arm to lead him back to the seat he had been in, and the abandoned book on cheese making.

He didn't jump when she touched him. That was a human reflex he had long since lost. He did freeze, but as fast as he recovered a human could not have noticed. Touching him casually was something else people just didn't do. Warmth from her hand seeped through the fine linen of his shirt into his forearm. It was pleasant.

Obeying her little nudges and gestures indulgently, he retook his seat, and she dragged the chair at the opposite side of the table around to sit adjacently. So close the front of her knees brushed the side of his leg through his linen trousers, and her long blue skirt. He very rarely saw human women in skirts of that length anymore. Some vampires preferred to keep to styles they enjoyed from their human years though, so it wasn't entirely unusual to him.

An uncertain smile, then her gaze flickered to the cover of his book. He liked those expressive green eyes, and wanted them back on him.

"I've seen you read books from every section of our library," she started, in her soft, pleasant voice, "do you know what you're trying to find?"


End file.
